Aptos woman dies after returning from China

I am somewhat offended by this article as some of the comments are simply untrue. I am one of the individuals who went on this tour to China with my daughter. We found it very easy to find other than Chinese food (however we are in China what kind of food would you expect to find). Several of our tour group went to eat at Pizza Hut. There are KFC's on every corner and McDonalds as well. My daughter and I as well as many others went to Starbucks. Not to mention that the hotels had Western food as well as Chinese and some times Japanese. I also felt we were well informed about our scheduled early rises from the beginning. Our chamber was one of the best about keeping us informed all the way through about the tour. This is a very sad moment for all of us, but let's not lose sight of the fact that this could have happened even on a leisure trip planned by any individual when you come in contact with the virus.

Ah, when I was in Rome, it was hard to get non-Italian food, even in a Chinese restaurant. Let me explain:

Being partially of Italian ancestry, I didn't normally "eat Itlian" in Italy; what can compare to mamma's (free) home cooking? So I ate at McDonald's, or ate Chinese, if available.

In 1996, not far from the Trevi Fountain, I found a small Chinese restaurant. It was definitely run by Chinese, or possibly Vietnamese. I ordered some standard dish, such as chow mein. To my surprise, the undecorated noodles were served first, followed by the meat and vegatables at a later time. It seems that Italians are used to the "prima plata" of pasta folloed by a seond one containing what we would call the entree; the Chinese restaurant had learned to serve it that way, since the customer base was mostly the local Italians (rather than tourists).

Back to the news article: The influenza thing is troubling. Given the incubation time, it would have been contracted in China (or in transport), then brought here.

McD's, Pizza Hut, and KFC is not a suitable alternative, especially for a diabetic, so suggesting that is just as offensive as the article.
Its a sad story. I suppose the positive note is she spent the last of her days in a great experience.

Thank you Pamparius. I am a friend of Linda's and worked with her at CodeGear. The point of the story is about the loss of Linda. Not even necessarily her trip to China and especially not about the food! We will all miss Linda on many levels. One thing for sure, if you know her, holidays will never be decorated the same again! Yeah Linda!!!

I agree with RynG...the point of the article was not the food, unless that is what killed her. Was this seasonal flu? Not to get everyone in a hissy, but bird flu? This woman was a diabetic. Chinese food is full of sugar. KFC, McDonald's, Starbucks, all wrong for a diabetic. Sadly it sounds like she was another victim to this season's virus. My heart goes out to Linda's family and friends.

My prayers are with :inda's family and friends and I am so terribly sorry for your loss. I too was on the China trip and from what I oculd see we were ALL in awe and excited to be there. Please know Linda experienced some amazing culture, history and beauty. Since everyone on my trip was kind and wonderful, I am also certain that she was a wonderful person too

Does any one get a flu shot anymore?

im sad to hear someone die, and my thoughts go with the family, but i hate the tone of article blaming the trip, china, chinese food and stuff. blame the flu, a virus, a poor flu vaccine this year, not china.

Why is everyone so concerned about the food when a life has been lost??

My thoughts and prayers are with her family.

How do we know this woman didn't get a flu shot? Peer-reviewed studies continue to show that flu shots don't work, especially since they are prepared many months ahead of the flu season and are formulated based on the best-guesses of the flu shot makers who often get it wrong. These shots not only can leave you unprotected from whatever flu finally arrives, but can also leave you more vulnerable since your immune system has already been compromised by introducing other, unnecessary flu viruses into your system.
Worst of all, Dr. Fudenberg, a well-known medical researcher, studied people between 55 and 60 who'd gone on to receive at least 5 flu shots over a 10 year period. Compared to those who didn't get flu shots at all, these people had 1000% increase in alzheimers. This is likely due to the mercury/thimerasol used as a preservative in flu shots. Mercury is a known neuro-toxin that causes the same kind of pathology as seen in alzheimers patients. It's use in childhood vaccines is also widely considered one of the main reasons that these vaccines are linked to autism, ADHD, and other neurological problems in children.

jxz wrote:

Does any one get a flu shot anymore?

Yes, but the reports are that this year's vaccine is only about 40% effective because the doctors picked the wrong strain to create the vaccine for (they have to start well in advance). Not sure if a US vaccine would prevent against strains found in China anyway.

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_CDC_Flu_Vaccin...

This is a story about a sad event, someone losing their life. However, the fact that the Sentinel chose to print a full story about it instead of just having it appear as an obituary (that the family pays for) gives the implication that her trip to China somehow contributed to her death. It would not be the first time that this newspaper plays judge, jury, executioner, and coroner in regards to a story. Linda may have simply died of natural causes, who knows? I am certain that other people in this world die after visiting a foreign country, but they don't get written up in newspapers. It is also very idiotic to imply that the only "western" food found in China is fast food. Unless we have a report from a coroner as to the cause of death, everything written on here is mere speculation. It would have been a credible story if several of the dozens of people on the tour were hospitalized or died. But that did not happen. Irresponsible journalism at its finest, I think.
My thoughts and prayers are with Linda's family.

Mombo Man wrote:

Maybe she choked to death while eating a chicken sandwich, like Mamma Cass?

How dare you! As a member of Linda's family your comments are not only insensitive,but offensive! As our family struggles through this difficult time we should not have to deal with ignorant people. Millions of people struggle and ultimately succomb to the debilatating effects of diabetes each year. But at this time we have no evidence that Linda's diabetes was the cause of her death. My hope is that you will educate yourself on diabetes, and in the future consider that obituaries are not a forum for insensitive jokes to be made at the expense of the person or their family!

This flu is nasty. It's highly contagious. I got just a touch of it from very limited contact from a friend of a friend who was on the trip. It's contagious before the person feels ill at all. Your muscles hurt all over for many days and you have no energy. It doesn't feel like the normal flu. I hope that the people who have been hospitalized because of it have doctors who are reporting it to the CDC. After experiencing this, it brings a new perspective to all the pandemic warnings. You would think that staying away from sick people would be good enough to stay healthy, but it's not.

Snurdly wrote:

I've always gotten my chicken sandwiches "pre-chewed" just to avoid this sort of thing.

You people just don"t get it!! A woman DIED in her home, from an ILLNESS not from choking to death! you are worse than the previous writer because you are continuing to joke about this after reading that we Linda's family found these comments to be offensive. I can excuse the previous writer as perhaps being unaware of how hurtful those comments might be, but you pushed on with what I can only assume is the intention of inflicting more pain on myself and the rest of my family during this painful time. Shame on you!!!

I offer my deepest condolences to Linda's family. I am sure you all miss her very much. Yet, she was fortunate to have seen the culture and places she had always wanted to before her death. That is a treasure for anyone. My prayers and heartfelt wishes for all of you.

I understand your concern and feelings that the readers' comments here are insensitive. Perhaps, in their humanity, they feel as if this article is written blaming China for her death. Yet, all of us know that life is unpredictable and precious. Love to you all!

My deep condolences to Linda's family. I also have family members that are diabetic & for that reason we choose not to travel out of the country as it is to difficult and dangerous for diabetics to function in other countries. The flu is a serious illness that claims many diabetics every year. Thankfully, we all have flu shots every year and have not had the flu since we had the shots. No effects from the shots have every occured. I am glad that LInda was able to realize her dream before she passed. That is priceless. A reminder to all of us that life is short and life is to be respected and enjoyed every day. LInda is in our prayers.

spcschwartzy wrote:

<quoted text> You people just don"t get it!! A woman DIED in her home, from an ILLNESS not from choking to death! you are worse than the previous writer because you are continuing to joke about this after reading that we Linda's family found these comments to be offensive. I can excuse the previous writer as perhaps being unaware of how hurtful those comments might be, but you pushed on with what I can only assume is the intention of inflicting more pain on myself and the rest of my family during this painful time. Shame on you!!!

You'll have to excuse some of these people, if you see in other posts, there are some heartless comments about anyone and anything. I am sorry for your loss, and know that she no longer has to suffer, and endur anymore complications from the dreadful disease. Diabetes slowly eats away different parts of your body, and it's just a horrible thing to go through. My condolences to you and your family. God Bless.